Opinions, Guidelines and Certificates of Review Topical Index

(Please note that some of the Opinions and Guidelines listed below are for reference only. The actual Opinions and Guidelines
can be found in the volumes of the Idaho Attorney General's Opinions and Annual Report.)

E

Education
Opinion 75-8 - Legality of state financed kindergartens.

Opinion 75-26 - Education qualifications – school district elections.

Opinion 75-39 - Kindergarten attendance not included in computing district’s average daily attendance.

Opinion 75-59 - State Board of Education controls junior colleges.

Opinion 75-67 - County must collect school district levy.

Opinion 76-6 - Conditions which justify search for drugs by high school administrator of student, locker, car, or school grounds.

Opinion 76-9 - Powers of Department of Labor & Industrial Services to enforce building codes for schools and state buildings.

Opinion 76-16 - Legality of deferred compensation.

Opinion 76-20 - Requirement of both spouses’ signatures on back of tax refund warrants.

Opinion 76-65 - Requirement of University of Idaho to allot all appropriated and non-appropriated revenue. Power of University to spend revenues without approval of Board of Examiners or State Auditor.

Opinion 76-65 - Power of university to spend revenues without approval of Auditor or Board of Examiners.

Opinion 83-12 - School Board has responsibility to ensure that compulsory attendance law requirements are met. Expulsion as habitual truant not needed for proceeding to enforce law.

Opinion 86-13 - School districts are prohibited from creating or aiding any private corporation, profit or non-profit.

Opinion 84-1 - Rule allowing health care professionals to work off portion of state educational loan obligation by service in Idaho does not impose involuntary servitude on borrower and is constitutional.

Guideline 2/14/1984 - School district trustees authorized to establish public library, and to act as trustees and levy taxes therefore. Total separation between school district and library funds.

Guideline 3/19/1984 - Junior college districts are not “school districts” and may not have social security employer’s share paid by State Auditor.

Opinion 86-11 - Five year residency requirement for students who desire to enter special graduate programs is unconstitutional.

Opinion 86-13 - School districts are prohibited from creating or aiding any private corporation, profit or non-profit.

Guideline 1/21/1986 - Constitutionality of proposed legislation requiring Board of Education to revoke teaching certificate of any teacher who instructs for or against sectarian or denominational doctrine.

Guideline 2/6/1986 - “Balanced Treatment for Creation Science and Evolution Science in Public School Instruction Act,” would most probably be unconstitutional.

Guideline 2/12/1986 - Adjustment to appropriations for public school support to balance budget.

Guideline 2/28/1986 - Proposed legislation, prohibiting teaching that homosexuality is normal or acceptable form of behavior, is unconstitutionally uncertain.

Guideline 2/10/1998 - Board of education vested with general supervision of public schools, including higher education, and superintendent of public instruction, while ex officio member of board, executes state law and board policy relating to public schools.

Guideline 4/28/1998 - Public school superintendents must have five years' credited service before becoming eligible for retirement benefits.

Guideline 11/25/1998 - School does not qualify as "hardship school" because of language barrier or school district-created demographic conditions.

Guideline 3/15/2000 - Legislature may not limit spending authority for income from university land endowments by not appropriating that money to colleges and universities; all income from university endowment funds derived from federal land grants is perpetually appropriated by such grants regardless of statutory or constitutional beneficiary.

Guideline 1/7/2002 - Court likely to uphold district policy authorizing or mandating moment of silence at beginning of school day if properly drafted and adopted for appropriate purpose.

Guideline 1/17/2002 - Universities and colleges are not prohibited from charging differential matriculation fees under art. 9, sec. 10, Idaho Const., provided that fees collected are used only for maintenance and operation of physical plant, institutional support or student services.

Guideline 1/17/2002 - Program to charge differential matriculation fees may not survive rational basis review under equal protection analysis if program is method to allow institution to be reimbursed for increased costs of instruction; if program has legitimate purpose such as accounting for increased cost for items that may be reimbursed by matriculation fees, it is likely to pass rational basis review.

Guideline 10/9/2008 - The educational support program funding provision contained in Idaho Code § 33-1003(1) pertaining to decreases in average daily attendance does not apply to public charter schools.

Certificate 4/11/2011 - Referendum Regarding Reduction of School District Funding, Requiring Provision of Laptop Computers, and Requiring Online Courses for High School Graduation (SB 1184).

Opinion 14-3 - The University of Idaho should not obtain its own risk or property insurance unless it does so by paying premiums with moneys not derived in whole or in part from state funds. It may obtain its own risk or property insurance if it pays the premiums with money not obtained in whole or in part from state funds.

Elected Officials
Opinion 75-3 - Treatment of group insurance and deficit.

Guideline 1/17/1984 - Both during legislative sessions and in the interim Lieutenant Governor is entitle to unvouchered per diem expense allowance equal to that of speaker of house of representatives.

Opinion 85-5 - Appointment of member of judiciary to Children’s Trust Account would violate separation of powers clause of Idaho Constitution.

Opinion 87-10 - Board of county commissioners has duty to fill vacancy in office of prosecuting attorney with election-qualified replacement.

Guideline 1/28/1987 - Jurisdiction and cooperation among coroners when incident causing death occurs in one county, actual death occurs in another.

Guideline 6/18/1987 - Member of county planning and zoning commission may not serve concurrently as city councilman.

Guideline 9/25/1987 - Successor filling vacancy or person elected for full term as city council member assumes office on first January meeting of council following appointment or election.

Guideline 2/8/1988 - As trustee of Lake Coeur d’Alene water right, Governor may take action to prevent junior appropriator from causing fluctuations in lake level, but may not regulate or control surface encroachments that do not impair the lake level.

Guideline 12/4/1980 - Procedures to be followed by Senate in judging contest of elections.

Guideline 7/8/1981 - Legislative authority to enact qualifications for state legislative elections in addition to those in Idaho Constitution.

Guideline 7/17/1981 - Amendment to provide for special elections for referenda falls within scope of Governor’s call.

Guideline 2/26/1985 - Meaning of term “state candidate” in determining body with authority to fill vacancies.

Opinion 86-9 - Provision that legislature defer action on ratification of amendments to U.S. Constitution until after popular referendum conflicts with Art. V. of the U.S. Constitution and therefore is a nullity.

Guideline 4/14/1989 - Person who has been convicted of a felony and who has had civil rights restored may vote in election.

Guideline 6/15/1989 - Highway commissioners may open the polls prior to noon if appropriate notice of time extension is given to electorate.

Guideline 6/15/1989 - Voter in highway district election must be registered in compliance with Idaho voter registration law.

Opinion 15-1 - A state employee lobbyist who proffers gifts and/or benefits to legislators and/or executive officials should register and disclose his or her conduct as a lobbyist with limited exceptions.

Endowment Fund InvestmentOpinion 10-1 - The fiduciary duties of the Endowment Fund Investment Board require the EFIB determine that the investments represented by the Credit Enhancement Program will secure the maximum long term return to the endowment.

Opinion 10-1 - Investment through the Credit Enhancement Program without fees is an investment that does not comply with the duties of loyalty, impartiality or the Prudent Investor Rule.

Opinion 85-4 - State Treasurer, as custodian of public school fund, may refuse to open accounts or transfer investments for clearly illegal investments.

Opinion 09-1 - The Idaho Legislature does not have the authority to exempt leases of state endowment lands for single-family recreational cottage sites and homesites from the public auction requirement of Article IX, § 8, of the Idaho Constitution.

Opinion 82-10 - State Land Board may sell to state agencies trust lands without public notice or public auction.

Guideline 10/28/1982 - Sale of school endowment lands for future site of hydroelectric project.

Guideline 11/28/1984 - Monies from “ten percent fund” must be expended for improvements on same endowment land grant from which they derived and on no other.

Opinion 85-3 - To avoid violation of constitutional and land provisions, the special fund provided by Idaho Code §58-140 should be consolidated in the agency asset fund so that interest will be accounted for separately for the benefit of the account.

Opinion 85-4 - Permanent endowment funds may be invested in money market mutual funds provided fund unconditionally guarantees full repayment of principal and interest and state does not directly or indirectly become stockholder in any association or corporation.

Guideline 10/7/1988 - Treasurer may deposit funds in suspense account prior to allocating to public school fund or to state treasury.

Guideline 9/3/1992 - Crediting interest earned on endowment land receipts to the general account violates the Idaho Admission Bill and the Idaho Constitution.

Guideline 9/3/1992 - Authority of Department of Lands to place receipts earned from endowment accounts into interest-bearing accounts.

Guideline 9/3/1992 - Interest earned from endowment fund lands must be segregated for deposit into the general account.

Opinion 09-1 - The Idaho Legislature does not have the authority to exempt leases of state endowment lands for single-family recreational cottage sites and homesites from the public auction requirement of Article IX, § 8, of the Idaho Constitution.

Opinion 11-1 - Because the Oil and Gas Conservation Act does not express, either explicitly or impliedly, an intent to preempt the operation of local land use planning authorities, such authorities may be applied to oil and gas developments if done in a manner consistent with the goals, objectives, and authorities of the Local Land Use Planning Act and in the absence of operational conflicts between the zoning ordinance and the OGCA or Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules or orders.

EthicsGuideline 8/15/1991 - Acceptance of complimentary "Buy Idaho" gift pack does not violate either Bribery and Corrupt Influence Act or Ethics in Government Act.

Guideline 10/23/1991 - City employee cannot be employed by city while spouse serves on city council.